David Nelson has a strained tendon, so he's sitting for a little while. Puts 3rd-rounder TJ Graham running with the starters with Donald Jones shifted into the slot. I love the idea of him stretching the field for our offense, but he still has quite a bit to learn and Fitz is never going to be a master of the deep ball.

Casey Hayward is looking like he could be a day-one starter in Green Bay. Bob McGinn said "Hayward has been the most impressive defensive back and overall rookie so far" for the Packers. The question is whether he can play outside, or if he's going to be strictly a slot guy.

Sam Shields continues to regress. He had a great rookie season (they don't win the Super Bowl without him); but once there was film of him, everybody figured out how to beat him.

- Michael Vick, LeSean McCoy, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and DeSean Jackson are putting on their typical training camp shows. These four are just fast and athletic and they're meant for this type of a showcase, hopefully all four can put on a show when it's for real too. Some of the best match-ups have supposedly been between DRC and DeSean Jackson (blazing speed v.s. blazing speed).

- Cliff Harris has been one of the darlings of camp at cornerback but he's fighting an uphill battle because the Eagles already have Nnamdi and DRC as the starters with Joselio Hanson in the slot and rumor has it that Brandon Boykin is performing as well as any CB in camp so far and Curtis Marsh has been running with the ones when Nnamdi moves into the slot.

- Jason Avant should be an Eagle for life. This is a guy everyone wants on their roster. He's perfect for the slot receiver spot, he's tough, he has incredible hands and he runs routes like they're were drawn with a protractor. And on top of being great at what he does, he's a fantastic presence on the roster. When Riley Cooper broke his collar bone, Avant ran 50 yards downfield to see if he was okay. Jason Avant watched special teams drills and got on Marvin McNutt for touching an onside kick before it went 10 yards. And he praised Jeremy Stewart for finishing his runs instead of running out of bounds in practice. This guy should never leave the Eagles and after he's hung it up, he should be a coach. Great guy.

- Last year's draft class is really coming along. Danny Watkins has been dishing out some nice, hard servings of turf. And Jaiquawn Jarrett is playing like the physical safety he was touted as, laying a couple huge hits on LeSean McCoy today.

- Brandon Graham had a fantastic camp as a rookie and every beat reporter says that he's doing just as well now as he did back then. If Brandon Graham is healthy, that's a big boost to an already stacked defensive line.

- Jim Washburn yells and curses, a lot.

- DeMeco Ryans has taken this defense by the reigns. He took the leadership role right away.

- Jason Kelce has an AMAZING beard:

I have no problem admitting the Eagles scare the **** out of me. Just a insane amount of talent on that squad. If they put it all together mentally, it could be ugly for the rest of the NFC.

Location: "Everybody sounds like Meryl Streep with a gun to their head."

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Quote:

Originally Posted by gpngc

I don't know about all that praise for Jason Avant after a couple of practices but ANYWAY...

what's the word on Kendricks so far?

Well Jason Avant has been around for a while… If I could, I'd have 53 guys who played like Jason Avant. He's not overly talented but he's dedicated, precise and he's a fantastic locker room presence. He even lays some crazy blocks on special teams. I <3 Jason Avant soo much.

But word on Kendricks is that he's fast and athletic. Reporters said he was the star of the minicamps earlier this offseason and I haven't read anything that would say that changed. I did read that Jason Avant got on him for missing a tackle saying that "We need that tackle 95". Andy Reid just handed him the job outright so he must be doing something right.

I'm really hoping that early reports on Mark Herzlich being fast and athletic out there are true and not just training camp hype. If Herz can regain that athleticism he had in college, we may have the MIKE I've been begging for the Giants to go out and get for years now.

I don't want to jinx it, I really hope it's not just training camp hype. But if we got Herzlich playing like college Herzlich, that will make our defense that much scarier this year.

....until Perry Fewell does his best to try to screw it all up. But that's a different topic of discussion.

Yeah, but the QB position is such a question mark. I think San Fran is still easily going to be a double digit win team and I don't think, even with a great supporting cast, that Seattle can be that without at least an above average performance by the QB. I don't think Jackson or rookie Wilson gives them that, so it may be on Flynn.

In fact, I think the entire NFC West is being slept on a little. It's not a cupcake division, and the 49ers aren't going to sleep walk into a division title.

The Rams are much improved, especially on defense, the Cardinals are tough on defense and have weapons on the outside, the Seahawks are just missing a qb for the most part and are built simiarly to the 49ers. This division is improved and will be competitive.

Yeah, but the QB position is such a question mark. I think San Fran is still easily going to be a double digit win team and I don't think, even with a great supporting cast, that Seattle can be that without at least an above average performance by the QB. I don't think Jackson or rookie Wilson gives them that, so it may be on Flynn.

The 49ers have the same problem, do they not? Neither team has a great qb. Both teams have great defenses. Both teams should have good run games.

It could come down to health and execution by their respective game manager qbs.

Consistency is very difficult in the NFL if you don't have a franchise qb. The 49ers do not have one. I don't think it's a lock that they have a repeat performance from last year.

In fact, I think the entire NFC West is being slept on a little. It's not a cupcake division, and the 49ers aren't going to sleep walk into a division title.

The Rams are much improved, especially on defense, the Cardinals are tough on defense and have weapons on the outside, the Seahawks are just missing a qb for the most part and are built simiarly to the 49ers. This division is improved and will be competitive.

It's going to be all about the QBs for the other 3 teams. Hell, even all 4 teams have reasonable questions there.

I'm not a Bradford guy like most here seem to be, and I think he'll be closer being called a bust than a great QB by the end of this year. That's my feeling on the matter.